Normalcies in Gotham
by Animalialuvscartoons
Summary: It's perfectly normal in Gotham to see gangsters bleed to death right in front of you, and it's also perfectly normal to see a girl reduced to begging on the street to support her two children. Even if they're no older than some of your friends. Right?


**Normalcies in Gotham**

**A/N** Hi everyone! Animalia here! With my first one-shot! Okay, so I wanted to write a fanfic about two of my favorite characters. Artemis and Robin! Oh but this isn't a romance, they don't even meet up in the fic. Anyway, my friend **Gotta love Robin** has uploaded the first chap of our collab Christmas fic, sorry it's so late! Oh, and there's another poll on my profile for you guys to vote on, so pleeeeeeeeease vote! So, I think that's it. On with story!

**Warnings:** Angst. A look into the scummier part of Gotham. Might make you cry. Might.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Young Justice. Or Del Taco.

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><p>It was just a normal day in Gotham.<p>

Just a normal day.

At least, that's what he kept telling himself.

It was totally normal to see a gang member bleed to death in front of you.

It was also normal for a gang member to be only sixteen.

It also was normal for them to become delusional in their dying moments.

However, he personally thought, it _wasn't_ normal for a gang member to start mumbling about his wife and children and crying for his Mom and apologizing to his Dad as he was dying on the floor.

And it wasn't normal at all that he had taken an interest in _listening_ to the delusional tales coming from the teen's lips.

But he did.

And he found out quite a lot about this particular gang member,

He was sixteen years old, had gotten a girlfriend at thirteen, eloped with her when his parents disapproved of their relationship, had two little boys at home, one three, and the other eight months. He had found himself short of money and gotten involved with the wrong employers. His parents had found his family and tried to discourage him from 'the life' along with his wife. But he wouldn't listen and had argued with his Dad, yelled at his Mom and his wife, and snapped at his kids, and now he was regretting all of it.

But it was too late.

Much too late.

It was a normal gang war.

Guns, hotheads, petty arguments, illegal money, and bad aim.

He hadn't stood a chance.

That's when he and Batman had come in to break up the fight.

But they were there too late.

Much too late.

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><p>He didn't move from his position beside the gang member, he didn't even know his name, even when he could no longer hear the labored breathing or the mumbled apologies.<p>

Even when he knew that he was dead.

Just a normal day.

I slowly walked over to where Robin was kneeling, and hadn't moved from, in the last two hours.

"Robin", I said softly, "there's nothing we can do."

"He's dead", I stated bluntly.

Robin slowly stood up from the pool of blood that had formed where he was kneeling.

He looked at me, and I was concerned, but not surprised by the dull look in his eyes.

"We don't even know his name", he whispered.

"No, we don't", I stated "Which is why we shouldn't get attached", I added, attempting to reassure him, "Especially to a dead person".

That was a load of crap and he knew it.

He stared at me and whispered, "He was only sixteen"

I jerked, _only sixteen_.

I peered more closely at his face and sure enough, he looked to be a boy no younger than sixteen.

I just wasn't observing any of them closely.

It was easier that way.

Easier to deal with things like _this_.

"He was the same age as Kaldur", whispered Robin again, "and Conner"

"Superboy is only sixteen _weeks_ old", I corrected blandly. This kind of death wasn't new to me.

I don't think there's _any_ kind of death that's new to me.

Robin jerked his head to face me and I was surprised to find a glint of anger in his eyes.

"His name's _Conner_", he seethed.

I stared at him.

The glint of anger disappeared from his gaze.

"He wasn't much older than me", he said, whispering once again.

It took me a moment to realize he was talking about the gangster.

'So _that's_ what's bothering him', I thought.

He had seen almost as many deaths as I had, so it puzzled me why he was so shocked by this one.

_Now_ I understood.

His mind was on his teammates and himself.

I walked over to him.

"Do you want to go to the cave?" I asked gently.

His head jerked upwards and he nodded vigorously.

"Alright", I said, "let's go"

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><p>It was just a normal day in Gotham City.<p>

Just a normal day.

She was coming home from school.

She had to ditch her uniform, get rid of her hair tie, and put on scraggly clothes, all to not draw unwanted attention to herself.

But that wasn't the worst part.

She had to pass through the _alleys_ to get home.

That's where the beggars lived and she hated walking through them.

It just reminded her of the reality in Gotham.

But that was normal.

It was normal for them to reach out their scraggly hands to her, pleading for money.

It was also normal to refuse them money.

There wasn't any point to giving them money.

They either used it on drugs, followed her and tried to steal some more, or got beaten up and got their money stolen.

That was also normal.

What wasn't normal was to see a young girl with a child beside her and a baby in her arms.

"Please", she cried, "I don't have anything to feed my children, and nobody will hire me because I'm seventeen. Won't you spare a few dollars? We don't need much"

That wasn't a normal plea. Usually they would beg for five or ten bucks to buy at Del Taco or something.

But this was different. Not normal.

And the strange twisting feeling she felt in her stomach when she ignored the girl and walked away from her _definitely_ wasn't normal.

She kept going.

Even when she heard quiet sobs behind her.

It was too late to go back.

Much too late.

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><p>I was lounging around my mansion, killing time, while a rainstorm was occurring outside, when I heard a knock on my door.<p>

I got up, walked over, wondering who would leave their warm and cozy house in the pouring rain, and opened the door.

Standing in front of me, was Artemis, dripping wet.

"Artemis!" I exclaimed, "What are you doing here!"

"Can I come in?" she asked, so softly that I could barely hear her over the rain.

"Yeah, yeah," I said hurriedly, "come in, come in"

She walked in slowly, and the first thing she did was to shake her entire body, therefore coating me and my carpet with water.

"Thanks", I said sarcastically.

"Sorry", she said in a meek voice.

That startled me.

She wasn't acting like herself.

She never apologized, never walked anywhere in the rain, and never _ever_ answered in a meek voice.

I put my hand on her forehead.

"Are you feeling alright?" I asked, genuinely concerned.

As I asked, I noticed she was shivering.

I mentally kicked myself for forgetting that she had probably walked all the way over here in the pouring rain.

"Why don't you go and take a nice, hot shower." I told her gently. It almost seemed as if she would shatter if I raised my voice.

"Okay Oliver", she answered softly.

That startled me even more.

She _never_ used my real name.

I waited patiently for her to finish showering and to change into some of the clothes she stored in my house.

Soon she walked out and sat beside me on the couch.

I turned to her and asked tentatively, "What happened?"

She turned to me and I was disconcerted by her blank gaze.

"Do you ever visit Gotham?" she asked suddenly.

"Yes, sometimes", I answered delicately; afraid she would close up and refuse to tell me anything.

"Well," she started hesitatingly, "have you ever noticed, you know, the _other_ people"

In a moment, I understood.

"But aren't you used to it?" I asked gently.

She was staring at my carpet, with her hair down for once.

"She was only seventeen", she whispered.

I could practically feel my eyes soften.

I put my hand on her shoulder. All of a sudden, she jumped up and started pacing.

"That's only a little older than Kaldur and M'gann!", she practically yelled, throwing her hands in the air, pacing back and forth.

"The Martian is forty-eight years old!" I exclaimed, surprised.

I was shocked when Artemis whipped around and glowered at me.

"The Martian", she seethed, "has a _name_, you know"

I raised my hands apologetically. I wanted to kick myself for making such a _stupid_ mistake.

Her eyes seemed to soften and she sank back onto the couch.

"They're not that much older than me", she whispered.

I was relieved that she was still opening up to me.

I put my hand on her shoulder and asked her gently, "Do you want to go back to the cave?"

She looked at me and nodded gratefully.

"Okay", I said, "let's go"

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><p><strong>AN** Okay, so review please! Pleeeeeeeeease vote on my poll! And tell me what you thought. I wasn't too happy about how I wrote Green Arrow. But that character is always hard for me to relate to, even if he's my favorite Justice League member. Besides Batman, of course. Anyway, please review! And vote! Last time, I hardly got any votes at all:( I won't be posting for a while because my family is going to Texas for the New Year and we won't be back until at _least_ Jan 11, so, goodbye! And yes, I know that 'normalcies' is probably not a word. This is Animalia saying, 'I hoped you were turbed over my story'


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